Lasting impression
by Amenna
Summary: How do you make a lasting impression on the new trainees? Well, Levi isn't in the best mood, but he does have an idea. Eren does not like it, but he hardly is in any position to disobey, is he?


This was written as a little challenge from a friend. She gave me five gifs including quotes I had to use somehow. Those were (in order of occurance)

- "It's like you begging me to hate you."

- "Can I get pregnant from this?"

- "If they kill you, it's your own fault."

- "I have no idea what's going on, but I'm excited!"

- "Oh, I survived. Brilliant. I love it, when I do that."

Yeah, so this story was just written for fun and was never meant to be taken too serious, just so you know.

Since the friend I usually ask to take a look at my English stories did not see the anime completley, yet, and I did not want to give her a text full of spoilers, this is unbetaed. I apologize in advance for any mistakes I made. I did my best, but I'm a native German speaker and unfortunately I was never really gifted in learning languages. I hope, you can enjoy it nevertheless.

* * *

His morning started rather annoyingly when something (he would later discover it to be a sock) suddenly hit his face.  
With a start Eren bolted upwards, grabbing that something and tossing it away with a yelp. Then he blinked, becoming aware of where he actually was and trying to process what just happened.  
"Well, thank you, Eren." Jeans voice commented dryly and as soon as Eren turned he could see the other one bending down to pick up the cloth that had landed on the ground. The pained expression showed clearly on Jean's face at that moment and Eren almost felt bad for making him move like that when Jean was still injured. Almost. Had it not been for the fact that he was fairly certain it had been Jean himself who threw that stuff into his face.  
"What the hell are you doing here anyway?" Asked Jean as soon as he had managed to slowly rise again and put that sock on. "I mean, it's not like you aren't healed already, are you?"  
Eren gulped. Yes, he was indeed completely fine physically. Nevertheless his eyes shot towards his right arm, where the large diagonal slash wound had been from when he was stomped off his horse during the trip and fell to the ground shortly before he had morphed into a titan. Of course there was no sign left of it, not even a small scar. He shifted a little awkwardly.  
"I am, but I kind of collapsed after the fight..." He admitted unwillingly. Well, at least he thought he collapsed, not that he could be sure of it, he did not remember anything about the way back at all.  
Jean looked at him not saying anything and Eren did his best do hold the gaze although he felt a little guilty about the other having to suffer from the healing process and injuries while he himself could easily sleep most things off.  
"So, in other word, you not only healed every little scratch you got at once, but you slept through our travel, completely unaware of the looks people were giving us and the pain we had to endure?" Jean concluded and snorted. "It's like you're begging me to hate you, you know?"  
Eren cringed a little until he caught the look in Jean's eyes. It was way softer than his words and tone and indicated that he really did not mean to hurt him. In fact it looked almost... relieved? Or rather at ease? What the...?  
Suddenly the loud creeking of a big wooden door being forcefully opened interrupted them and as Eren looked up (and just now realised they were, of course, in the infirmary - and anything but alone), he automatically smiled.  
"Eren! Jean! You're up!"  
Within seconds there was a lot of talking and people around them as their comrades loudly talked at them. Eren did not really catch, what they were saying, but he was glad they seemed to be safe and sound except for some minor scratches or bruises. He smiled and enjoyed the moment of sheer chaos. And it was really just a moment.  
It took the nurse about half a minute to shut them all down to a low volume again, but after some pleading she at least allowed them to stay... if they did not disturb the sleeping patients.  
"So... any news that far? Bad or good?" Eren asked after everybody had settled down on his or Jean's bed.  
Armin nodded with a smile. "We secured the third storage point as planned. And we only lost about ten soldiers, which is about ten percent less than what we expected."  
And yet still too much for such a simple trip Eren thought a little gloomily.  
"Yeah and I almost drowned in titan drool!" Sasha exclaimed horrified. "It was sooo gross. And slimy and... irgh... oh, my god! Can I get pregnant from this?" She cried in horror making everyone else laugh.  
Yes, Eren thought, everything still the way it should be. He laughed.  
Until a new voice cut in the chatter and everyone fell silent at once.  
"Hey, Eren. It's starting to get on my nerves to fetch you from the infirmary every fucking time. You are supposed to heal quickly, aren't you?" Levi snorted as he came closer, effectively making Eren's friends back off to create enough room. Eren noted with a little worry the bandage on Levi's right hand and lower arm, but considering the foully mood his superior seemed to be in, he rather kept quiet about it.  
"Stop staring at me." The other hissed just then and nodded towards the exit. "If you are well enough to laugh, there's no need for you to stay here and be babied. Follow me. At once!" He added after Eren bend down to pick up his uniform that lay on the ground beside him.  
"But, sir, what about...?" Levi snorted again.  
"You won't need any of that."

"Ehm... captain? Where exactly are we go...?" Eren started, but was harshly stopped, as Levi smashed a hand against his mouth and glared at him. Eren had absolutely no idea what that was supposed to mean. He was still wearing his pyjama-like cloths from the infirmary (which consisted of a white slack and a shirt that was a little too big for him) and Levi hadn't been patient enough for him to even put on his boots. Therefore he was standing somewhere in the forest close to the garrison bare footed and without any equipment not to mention the fact, that it was actually a bit too cold for this sparely clothing. And, in all honesty, he was starting to doubt Levi's sanity.  
"Keep your damn mouth shut.", the later said just then, "And that a look over there."  
He pointed to the forest's edge, where Eren could barely make out a lot of uniformed soldiers standing in lines.  
"Our new trainees. Totally fresh, know nothing about combat, battle or titans. Kinda like you." He added dryly, shot Eren a look that the boy could not really decipher and continued. "Since instructor Keith seems to have caught a flew and our troops are still recovering, Erwin was asked to take over for a day. But he's just coughing and sneezing so that idiotic task was shoved onto my desk instead." His voice made it clear how much he disliked the idea in general.  
"Hanji's just giving them the titan blabber about weak points and that shit. I think that's rather lost on them." And just then a small mischievous grin ghosted around his lips and made Eren gulp. That definitely did not sound like anything he wanted to be involved in, no matter what it was that Levi had planned.  
"Most of them have never seen a titan in their life and are trying to avoid having to see one. I think, we need to change that." Now Eren was certain that Levi indeed was grinning – and it was a rather demonic grin really.  
"Uhm... you don't mean to say that I...?" He started his voice kept low and sounding a bit strange from behind the hand that was still there. Levi glared at him, then nodded and finally pulled back.  
"I do. Don't worry, they have no clue and no gear, meaning they are no thread to you unless you do something really stupid. And I will stay close by, keeping an eye on them. Nothing to worry as long as you don't act stupid." He leaned a bit closer and pulled Eren down by grabbing his shirt's collar. "Got it, Eren? Because I'm not gonna repeat myself. If they kill you, it's your own fault. And I can't stand unnecessary red tape. Don't die, understood?"  
Eren gulped.

It was a really strange feeling walking through this forest inside the wall and towards a whole bunch of trainees that did not know him and would most likely panic the moment they caught a glimpse of them. Although Eren agreed with Levi's statement about making a "lasting impression on the newbies" he was anything but certain that this was actually a good idea. In fact he highly doubted they would learn anything but fear and how to panic.  
"Could you at least try to look, like you really mean to eat them?"  
Levi was sitting on his left shoulder, mostly hidden behind Eren's hair and even less visible from the ground. And he strangely enough seemed to be enjoying himself, his mood being significantly better than just a few minutes ago.  
Eren didn't like it. Still... an order was an order. So he took a deep breath, opened his mouth and screamed. He wasn't really sure whether his scream would have meant anything to a titan or if he sounded just like a child trying to imitate an animal (and failing miserably), but he really didn't care. He could see the formation breaking at once, as everybody turned towards the trees and his approaching figure as he finally broke through the last trees into the open space.  
He gave another cry and soon enough the trainees echoed it and started running in all kinds of directions. Shouting, shoving each other out of the way, crying and screaming, some falling to the grounds, being left alone or even trampled over.  
This was worse than what Eren had expected and inwardly he cringed under such a scene and the knowledge that they were panicking because of _him_.  
Levi stayed calm, though. "Idiots. Wouldn't stand two seconds...", he mumbled, as Eren slowly (and carefully not to accidently hurt someone on the ground) took a step forward.  
He could make out Hanji now. It was easy, she was the only one, who did not run away, but instead in his direction. He could even hear her exclaim loudly: "I have no idea what's going on, but I'm excited!"  
At that moment Eren knew she recognized him. Even Hanji would not run towards a titan inside the walls this calmly if others were in immediate danger. He almost laughed, making his titan body produce some strange growling sounds.  
"This is getting boring." Levi commented and suddenly Eren felt him climb on top of his head. He wanted to look upwards, but if he did that, Levi would most likely fall off, so he held still for the moment.  
"Trainees!" Levis voice reverberated over the field. He was not exactly screaming the way Eren would, but he was loud enough for at least some of the younger ones to stop in their tracks and turn around.  
"This is what a titan looks like. This is the enemy you are going to face! Be aware of that, don't go on, if you aren't willing to fight it. We don't need soldiers to die, we need them to fight." With that he jumped upwards and was out of Eren's field of vision. Seconds later there was a sharp, but very brief pain in his neck and next thing he knew his titan was on the ground and he almost freely sitting on its neck.  
It took a few seconds, until Eren realised that the trainees were gathering around him, staring. And that Levi was standing next to him, swords still drawn and looking down on them rather unimpressed.  
"So? You still want to become soldiers?" He asked coldly as Eren finally managed to rip his legs free and stand up a little wobbly. He hated the hangover after the transformation even more than this strange power itself.  
He wanted to take a step towards Levi to ask him what exactly he was trying to accomplish with this kind of determent, but his right foot caught somewhere and with yet another yelp he fell to the ground with a thud.  
"Ouch."  
"Well, well, long time no see." Typical soldier boots appeared right in front of him and as Eren looked up, he saw a well known smiling face. "That sure was a surprise." Pixis commented with a laugh and turned to the recruits. Oh, yeah, Eren vaguely had registered him standing somewhere close to Hanji. Whatever he was doing here...  
"Commander..." Eren started. But shouts interrupted him. "I guess, I need to say something, huh?" Pixis turned around slowly, cleared his throat and eyed the people in front of them. Then he exclaimed cheerfully: "Oh, I survived. Brilliant. I love it, when I do that."  
What the hell? Was that supposed to be an encouragement? Or some kind of act?  
Everyone, including Eren himself just stared, while Levi jumped down gracefully and stacked away his blades.  
"Well, that's what I call a lasting impression."


End file.
